Fortinet FortiGate Reviews

I work for an integrator in Nigeria, and we implement all these solutions for our clients. I've done a lot of deployments on Fortinet, deploying all from FortiAP to FortiSwitch. I integrated it with FortiGate, FortiManager, SD-WAN, deployment, security, and the like.

I found the upgrades valuable. Normally, when you want to upgrade an enterprise firewall, the customer always requests a box swap, whereby we look at the new firmware and compare it to know if there will be any configuration changes. These are the parts where we have to bring in the OEM to do it. But with the new FortiGate firmware, it helps do that by providing reporting and helps you to give the customer the comfort of saying you can upgrade the firewall and describe what changes and issues you would expect. Basically, out-of-the-box management.

One area for improvement is the IPS engine, which is something that needs to be improved on. I've had so many issues whereby I have high CPU usage, and when I check, I see it's being consumed by the IPS engine. I have to upgrade the IPS engine firmware and all that. That has been the main pain point with FortiGate. Likewise, customer support could improve.

I've been working on FortiGate for about five years now, and I'm working with the latest version.

The solution is stable apart from the IPS engine issue, so I rate stability a seven out of ten. Stability depends on the operational team. If you have a good operational team that knows what you are doing, you always gain stability with most of your solutions. But if you have an operational team that is not so strong, you will always have issues with that solution because they will keep making human errors that will keep disrupting the services you offer. For example, in 2021, I was working as the cyber delivery manager for MTN, and I was managing the FortiGate infrastructure. In that one year, I never had any incident on FortiGate. But after I left, they started having frequent issues because of human errors. From a management perspective, if I were the CTO during that period, I would assume that FortiGate Firewall is not a good firewall. But that is not the case. It is the person who handles it that determines the stability. If you know how to do your health check properly and how to output the firewall properly, I'm sure FortiGate will be stable. I'm rating the stability as seven just to be in the middle. If it's being handled by a less experienced operational team, I'm sure you will have issues because they always perform changes, they don't know when to perform the kind of change they are performing, and that might disrupt the services. But if I rate FortiGate based on myself, I give it a nine out of ten.

I rate FortiGate's scalability a nine out of ten. Out of every ten enterprises in Africa, six currently use FortiGate. MTN is one of our major customers, and we helped them migrate from Cisco and Juniper to FortiGate.

The ease with the initial setup depends on the deployment. I've deployed FortiGate for different use cases. I've deployed it using internal segmentation. I've deployed it using it as a data center firewall, doing east and west. I've deployed FortiGate on the perimeter edge, whereby we have the SSL VPN and site-to-site VPN. But overall, I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten because it's always been very easy.

There are timelines with projects, so the time taken to deploy the solution depends on the scale of the project. If it's just a perimeter firewall where I have to migrate from one firewall, like the Cisco firewall, to the Fortinet firewall, it takes me nothing less than a week. It takes a day using the FortiConverter to convert the configuration from Cisco to Fortinet and maybe another two days to look at the configuration properly on my FortiGate before I'm confident enough to tell the customer to schedule maintenance for us to migrate the services. It depends on the customer, so in a nutshell, from kickoff to the close date is not always an exact amount, but generally no more than a month.

The deployment time taken depends on the customer's availability and their response because it's not totally dependent on me being the technical engineer. It depends on how fast they provide me with all the information I need to complete the deployments and determines how fast I can close the project. If the customer is very responsive, it takes us about three weeks to close the project.

FortiGate is much cheaper than other OEMs such as Cisco, Palo Alto, and Check Point. I'll rate FortiGate's pricing a five out of ten since it is moderately priced.

Currently, we are pushing all our clients to adopt the Fortinet cloud firewall instead of using the native solutions found on the different cloud environments they use, like Azure and Google, because they are not really effective.

FortiGate is a very good firewall that has a lot of features, and it's a firewall that gives the same stability as enterprise ones, and it gives you scalability in terms of deployment and operational management. I rate FortiGate NGFW a nine out of ten.

We used Fortinet FortiGate IPS as a perimeter firewall in our data center and offices. Major offices with more than 50 people were using Fortinet FortiGate IPS.

Fortinet FortiGate IPS has an easy-to-use interface and configuration. The solution supports protocols like OSPF and BGP.

The solution’s stability could be improved because we sometimes face some drops. It was not due to the box, but it was due to some misconfiguration on our end.

I have been using Fortinet FortiGate IPS for three years.

I rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS a nine out of ten for stability.

Fortinet FortiGate IPS is a very scalable solution. We had very few users using the solution in our data center. Around 50 users use the solution in our offices.

The solution's technical support is quite good.

The solution's initial setup is quite simple. We could transfer the configuration file from the earlier FortiGate, and we were up and running in a very short time.

Fortinet FortiGate IPS was deployed in our organization through a vendor. Since Fortinet FortiGate IPS is very simple to use and very easy to configure, its deployment time is very less.

You can recover the investment of Fortinet FortiGate IPS in a short time. The solution is not that pricey.

Fortinet FortiGate IPS' licensing is quite simple to understand.

Before choosing Fortinet FortiGate IPS, we evaluated Check Point. We chose Fortinet FortiGate IPS because Check Point was quite pricey.

We used the latest version of Fortinet FortiGate IPS.

We require a basic network engineer for the deployment of Fortinet FortiGate IPS.

Overall, I rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS an eight out of ten.

There are many features that we can use. We can see all the logs. Additionally, we can connect with other devices like the FortiManager. We also have a new feature.

We mainly use the Next Generation Firewall for enhancing security. It has powerful capabilities compared to traditional firewalls, especially when dealing with current threats like those in Azure. The Next Generation Firewall can handle more effectively.

The FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall is always updating. For example, if there is a big attack, they fix it in their firmware. They release new firmware with the necessary patches to address the vulnerabilities.

Mainly, we are more secure than with the traditional firewall. The Next Generation Firewall helps a lot in defending against various types of attacks.

In terms of solutions, for now, we don't have any SD-WAN. Yeah. We are planning to implement SD-WAN due to some failures we experienced last year. For our high availability design, this would be beneficial.

So I would like to have SD-WAN as a part of the Next Generation Firewall. It would enhance high availability.

I work with the FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall. We started using FortiGate about five to six years ago. We have been using various versions and migrated to newer ones over time.

It's stable, quite stable. We also have it set up as a firewall with high availability. We were also talking about SD-WAN for our future plans for our stores, mainly for the internal lines, because this SD-WAN technology is something we would like to implement.

It is a scalable solution. We can connect it to any network or with other brands, not only Fortinet. For instance, we can configure it with Cisco or any other brand for connectivity.

In our company, it protects around 500 endpoints.

Customer service and support have different levels of support—level one, level two, level three—based on the severity of the issue. They can also provide scheduled delivery. We usually never face any significant problems with their support.

I am satisfied with the support. They have good knowledge. 

The first setup process was easy to do. It was not difficult at all. 

We set it up ourselves. We created policies, firewall rules, IPsec VPN configurations, and everything was handled by our team.

The deployment took around five days, and the process was quite easy. The setup was straightforward. If we encountered any issues, we could contact Fortinet support. They were helpful and provided support through the hotline in urgent issues.

Maintenance is quite easy. I did it myself. It's user-friendly. We can use the GUI, or we can use the command line, but the GUI is more user-friendly. So it's good.

The price is not very expensive compared to Cisco or Palo Alto. Like Palo Alto, which is the most expensive product.

We have always been using Fortinet. It has been quite stable for us.

I would recommend it to other users. Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten. It is a good solution.

The solution is used in my company since its management is very comfortable. If we compare Fortinet and Cisco, Fortinet's web interface is more user-friendly and offers speed.

We use the solution's URL filtering, IPS, SSL, and, specifically, SSL encryption. In general, the tool offers a user-friendly interface and pleasant management.

I cannot say anything about the product's price, and the tool does not need any customizations.

A firewall has different levels of productivity that its customers can use in their official branches, which can be small offices, big offices, or enterprise-sized organizations. The vendors offer models with different levels of productivity of the product to its users, which is not possible in FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW). It lacks integration options. I would like the tool to offer its users more integration options. Most of the vendors of NGFW offer integrations open with different solutions. FortiGate is able to integrate with Cisco or Microsoft. FortiGate has a lot of possibilities in terms of integration with other vendors, so the integration capabilities of the tool need improvement. FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) has OpenAPI, which gives customers an option to integrate the tool into their custom software.

I have been using FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for seven to nine months. I use the solution's latest version. My company has a partnership with Fortinet.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Around 3,000 or more use the solution in our company. We have three appliances in total, each having a thousand users.

I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

The support does open a case when an issue is raised, but since it is the USA, despite the support hearing our problems, they do get late to respond. We only have issues with the support of low priority. I never open high-priority cases with the support team.

Neutral

On a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy, I rate the initial setup an eight or nine. It is easy to install since it can be done with small configuration steps.

The solution is deployed on the cloud. Most of the firewall devices are deployed on the cloud, especially since NGFW of different vendors work on the cloud.

The deployment can be done in just a week since we need to find answers to some questions from our management and our security department. We need to get certain approvals in terms of the security policies before proceeding with the deployment phase.

One or two people are enough for the deployment process.

To those planning to use it, I would suggest that they opt for a pilot offering from FortiGate and try to use it to understand and figure out its advantages and disadvantages.

I like FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) more than Cisco, even though I have worked more with the latter tool than the former.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

We use it for the network security operations of our customers. We've many different use cases, such as client security, server security, or DMZ sites. 

The secure web gateway module and the application control module are valuable. HA operations are very easy.

It's a very easy and simple solution for implementation and integration. I don't have any problems with this solution.

Web security solutions can be improved.

I've been using this solution for 10 years.

It's stable.

Its scalability is good. It's generally used in only one place as a standalone, but sometimes, it's used at multiple locations. 

Their support is good. I'd rate it an eight out of ten.

Positive

I've used Palo Alto, which is a good solution for a firewall, and their application signatures are very good. 

I was sometimes involved in its deployment. Its deployment was simple for me. It was very simple and easy. It took five to six hours.

It does require maintenance. There are probably one to two people required for its maintenance. 

Its price is normal. If I compare it with other vendors, such as Palo Alto, it's normal. Palo Alto is expensive. 

I'd recommend it to other people. It's good, and in our country, this product is very popular in our sector. It's easy and cheapest.

Overall, I'd rate Fortinet FortiGate an eight out of ten.

We're a healthcare company and use the solution in many ways. It builds a tunnel between the customer and our office. We use it for directing applications. It clears application problems based on latency and packet loss. People working from home can connect to the VPN in a secure way as well. 

We like the accessibility it provides.

Every process we do is underwritten under Fortigate. 

When we have to access the tunnels, we can use a VPN to access applications from the customer. 

We can dig into the security and enforce security policies. Everything is controllable from the server. 

It is easy to set up. 

The solution is stable.

It's reliable.

Technical support is helpful and responsive. 

Fortigate is always innovating. I'm not sure if any improvements are needed.

We'd like to have multi-factor authentication via fiber.

I've used the solution for six to seven years. 

The solution is stable. I'd rate it eight out of ten. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

The solution scales very well if it is the cloud. If there are hare hardware pieces involved, and more users are added, we have to swap out the hardware box. 

Most SMBs are on this solution. We have 20 to 50 customers on the product.

Technical support is very good. 

Positive

We have a mixed environment. We have Cisco and Fortigate. Whatever is needed is what we will use. 

The initial setup is easy. I'd rate the ease of setup nine out of ten. The deployment depends on how long it depends on the design and implementation needs. It might take about a month. Most of the infrastructure is static. 

Right now, we have three people who are able to handle deployment and maintenance. It does depend on what kind of network it is. 

We handled the implementation ourselves. We are certified in Fortigate. We only depend on a vendor for the hardware part and any related warranties. We can do the configuration and building of the firewall. 

I'm not sure of the exact pricing. My understanding is it is pretty pricey. I'd rate it seven out of ten. 

We are a customer and end-user.

Fortigate is a one-stop solution for all network needs. There are many features that are embedded into the firewall. The more you use it, the more options will be revealed. It's very strong on the market.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten overall. 

I'm a reseller with clients in industries ranging from healthcare to banking and manufacturing. My customers use FortiGate IPS for network protection and segmentation. 

I like FortiGate's zero-trust capabilities and protection against zero-day threats. Zero-day threat protection is critical because we're seeing constant changes in the threat landscape. The sandboxing and web access controls are also robust. 

FortiGate IPS is somewhat pricey compared to other solutions. There is also room for improvement in terms of the radio signals. The FortiGate WiFi has a relatively short range. I've found there is a lag in its zero-day malware response that could be better, and FortiGate could integrate better with other brands of equipment or identity management solutions.

I have used FortiGate IPS for more than five years.

I rate FortiGate IPS nine out of 10 for stability. When we've had problems with the platform, they were mostly configuration issues, not the fault of the product itself. 

I rate FortiGate IPS eight out of 10 for scalability, but we haven't scaled it up that much. We would have a better idea of its scalability if we used it on a bigger project. We can say with certainty that FortiGate is scalable enough for the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. 

Most of our clients are small and medium-sized companies, but we do some smaller projects on the enterprise side, like consultation and subcontracting. 

I rate Fortinet support eight out of 10. They're generally quite good, but sometimes the response is slower than I would like. When you're paying for support, you usually expect a response in a day or so, but it took Fortinet two or three days to address an issue once. That was the only time I got a slow response. They are usually much quicker. 

Positive

I rate FortiGate IPS eight out of 10 for ease of setup. We do on-prem and cloud deployments. It's a hybrid cloud setup where we install FortiGate on virtual machines from AWS. We can typically deploy FortiGate in a day. It might take two days if our client needs a lot of configuration work. 

I rate FortiGate IPS two out of 10 for affordability. It's more expensive than competing solutions. It ranges between $1,000 to $7,000 depending on the model. They offer one-year or three-year licenses. 

I rate Fortinet FortiGate IPS eight out of 10. If you're already using Fortinet, I recommend staying with it. However, if you want to reduce your costs, you can consider other solutions like SonicWall, Sophos, or Palo Alto. Fortinet is an excellent cybersecurity solution, but it's expensive.

This is an appliance. It is hardware. It's for intrusion detection mainly. It can do routing and switching yet focuses mainly on detection and prevention. 

The most valuable features are the fact that one device can do multiple tasks, such as both routing and firewalling.

It had a good web interface.

You have access to CLI in case you have no web access. 

Technical support has been helpful overall, even though we haven't used them much. 

It's a bit more complex to configure in comparison to Cisco.

The learning curve is a bit higher. 

It's not the least expensive solution on the market. 

We've only had a few issues and everything was solved very fast. We are satisfied with the level of support on offer. 

I've also used Cisco. These solutions are not quite the same. 

I've also used MicroTik, which is slightly less expensive. 

The pricing is okay. In comparison, MicroTik offers better pricing yet has the same functionality. Therefore, it is a bit more of an expensive option.

I'm a customer. We have the drives in our server room.

I'd rate the product eight out of ten.